Quill
by CrayolaBox16
Summary: Draco noticed something fall from her bag. He stood as if to pick it up but a voice in his head stopped him. "Why stand up, Draco? Some people will think you're crushing on the Mudblood. Why do you want to pick it up, anyways?" Red here!


Okay…this fic is for Purple, who celebrated her birthday a few days back. I hope you all enjoy this… please leave a review! Sorry in advance if it's bland. Enjoy!

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Draco's eyes followed Hermione as she walked out of the Great Hall, bag slung on her shoulder, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

As she neared the doors, Draco noticed something fall from her bag. He stood as if to pick it up but a voice in his head stopped him. _Why stand up, Draco? Some people will think you're crushing on the Mudblood. Why do you want to pick it up, anyways?_

Blaise looked up at him. "Something wrong, mate?" Draco didn't reply immediately; he only smirked at Blaise and sat back down.

"Of course not," Draco replied, shrugging his shoulders. He looked away from Blaise and peered at the spread in front of him. He helped himself to a piece of treacle tart and afterwards, excused himself.

"Where are you going, Drakie?" Pansy cooed, linking her arm to Draco's. He rolled his eyes and slapped Pansy's arm off his. He breathed deeply and ran his hand through his hair.

"Get off me, Parkinson," he growled. "It's not your business where I go, anyway." Draco added coolly. "So, sod off." He wrenched his arm back and walked away from the Slytherin table and Pansy, who was near tears.

Draco stopped at the doors. He looked down and saw what he was looking for.

It was a quill from Schrivenshaft's Quill Shop in Hogsmeade. Picking it up, Draco noticed that it was a silver owl feathered quill. He picked it up and clutched it tightly in his hand, walking past the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. As he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he realized he didn't know the Gryffindor tower password. The Fat Lady looked at him disapprovingly.

"Er… I need to see Hermione Granger," he said tentatively, afraid of what might happen next.

"Do I look like the entrance to the Room of Requirement?" the Fat Lady demanded, obviously thinking Draco was playing a joke.

"No, but—"His next sentence was cut as the portrait hole swung open, revealing Hermione with tears falling down her cheeks. Inside the common room were Harry and Ron, looking agitated.

His eyes followed Hermione as she turned to another corridor.

Looking back at the still open portrait hole, Draco saw Harry and Ron glaring daggers at him. "What are you doing here?" Ron bellowed, turning scarlet with rage. Draco shrugged.

"None of your business," he replied coolly, slamming the portrait hole shut in his face.

"Well that was certainly a very rude thing to say!" the Fat Lady remonstrated. Draco rolled his eyes. "Well he asked for it, didn't he? It's none of his business if I want to return something to someone, even if it is the Mudblood."

"There's no need for language like that!" the Fat Lady scolded. Draco rolled his eyes again. "Whatever," he muttered.

He clutched the quill tighter and ran towards where Hermione went. As he turned to another corridor, he started screaming. "Granger! Granger, where the bloody hell are you?"

He slowed his pace and came to a halt. Draco could swear he heard sobbing. "Granger?" He pushed the door open and closed it just as quickly. It was the ladies' bathroom. "Granger, come out of there!" Draco shouted, almost pleadingly.

Draco pressed his ear against the door and listened. The sobbing ceased—Hermione must've stopped and listened if anyone was beyond the door. He pursed his lips as if he was in pain and sighed. Draco also looked around to see if anyone was there, and to his ultimate luck, the corridor was deserted. He pushed the door open and walked in quickly. "Granger? Don't make me come and find you!" he warned.

"Just go away! I don't need anybody shouting at me when I haven't done anything wrong! It's all Harry and Ron's fault!" she screamed back at him, her voice coming from the last cubicle. Draco smirked to himself.

"Just out of curiosity, do you even know who I am?" he asked. The cubicle door slammed open, revealing Hermione with her puffy red eyes and a handkerchief in her hand. Draco eyed her and his face held an amused look.

She glared at him. "I've been crying, all right?" she snapped irritatingly. "Why are you here anyway? In case you've forgotten, this is a girls' lavatory. You're not a girl."

"Oh, well spotted." He said, cutting across her.

"Don't interrupt me. And besides, last time I checked, the Slytherin dormitories were in the dungeons. So again, I have to ask—"

Draco cut across her again. "What I'm doing here. Yes, I know. Well," he began, but stopped. Hermione looked at him, puzzled. "Anything wrong?" she asked. He looked at the ceiling then back at her. "Well, like you said, I'm not a girl. So can we go someplace else?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and suddenly grabbed Draco's wrist, leading him out of the lavatory to a deserted corridor. "Okay, we're out of there. So what's so important that you had to go inside the girls' lavatory just to see me?" she asked him.

His face turned pink at the mention of the bathroom. He put a hand over her mouth and hissed, "Not so loud!" He removed his hand from her face and showed her the quill. "Is this yours?"

Hermione took it from him and examined it. A moment later, she looked up at him. "How did you get this?" she asked rather suspiciously.

"So I take it that it is yours?" Draco asked. She nodded. "See that carved on the point? I do that to all my quills." Draco stared at her absently for a moment and she had to ask him again. "Where did you find this?"

He took a deep breath and combed a hand through his hair. "Well, I sort of watched you go out of the Hall and I saw something fall out of your bag. After I finished eating, I saw it still lying on the floor so I picked it up and followed you to the Gryffindor Tower." Draco looked at Hermione only to see her face creased as though deep in thought. "Anything wrong, Granger?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Well, yes. I mean, you hate me. So why bother returning a quill you're not even sure is mine? Why go through the trouble of looking for me and even entering the girls' lavatory just to make sure it was mine? It's almost as if…"

Hermione stopped abruptly and in the dim light, Draco saw her flush slightly. Draco felt his face grow hot as well. "What an absurd thing to say! Of course—I—why should I—simply ludicrous—" And from there he walked away, leaving Hermione in the deserted corridor.

"Malfoy! Hey, Malfoy!" Hermione hissed after him, as they filed out of the Astronomy Tower one Thursday night. Draco completely ignored her until they reached yet another deserted corridor. He looked back to see if Hermione was still following him and seeing that she was, led the way to an empty classroom and closed the door behind them. He looked at Hermione blankly. "I—I just want to say I'm sorry for making that assumption last time… it was presumptuous of me… so friends?" Hermione offered her hand but Draco shoved it aside.

"You know, you weren't being presumptuous at all. Did you mean to tell me it was like I had feelings for you?" he asked, staring at Hermione. She turned red but nodded sheepishly, looking at the classroom floor instead of at Draco. "Well," he began, leaning toward her, "You weren't making an assumption at all. Because the truth is I like you Granger. I've been in love with you since third year."

Hermione's head suddenly jerked upward only to have her lips meet with Draco's.

~END!~


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